The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for flashless tipping of an I.V. catheter and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for forming a tapered tip on a thin wall catheter constructed of a polyurethane plastic material.
Intravenous (I.V.) catheters are particularly used in medical applications for directing blood, plasma, or other fluids into the circulatory system of a patient. While I.V. catheters are available in several different types, one common type of catheter is constructed so as to be mounted upon a relatively long, hollow cannula with a slight friction fit. A hub is attached at one end of the catheter and is designed so as to be connectable with and detachable from an I.V. fluid supply line. To insert the catheter into the patient, the cannula and catheter together are inserted through the patient's skin, whereupon the cannula may be withdrawn, leaving the catheter in place.
As manufactured, catheters have distal ends, being those ends to be inserted through the skin, those are generally blunt. The use of a catheter with such a distal or leading end is not desirable since the blunt tip tends to resist insertion into the skin, thereby increasing the difficulty and trauma of insertion. Moreover, insertion of a catheter with a blunt tip increases the irritation to the surrounding tissue, and perhaps most importantly, adds significantly to the pain and discomfort of the patient during use.
Consequently, others in the past formed tapered tips on an I.V. catheter to eliminate the aforementioned problems. The methods for providing such a tip, however, are relatively few and not publicly known. Moreover, polyurethane catheters are particularly difficult to form, and thus there is no presently known method whereby a tapered tip may be formed on a polyurethane catheter.
Accordingly, it is seen that a method for tipping an I.V. catheter, and in particular a polyurethane catheter, is needed. Such a method would provide a uniform tapered tip and would be sufficiently quick and simple as to permit tipping of catheters in large quantities without any flash to remove.